


half a heart

by thursdayfalling



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 19:31:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13347999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thursdayfalling/pseuds/thursdayfalling
Summary: Taako didn't remember when he got the tattoo. It had been there for as long as he could remember- Half a heart on the inside of his left wrist.





	1. taako

Taako doesn't remember when he got the tattoo. It's been there for as long as he can remember - Half a heart on the inside of his left wrist, the line a bit faded, a bit shaky. Not unsightly, but imperfect. Charming.  _Pointless._ Who gets half a heart tattooed on their body? What's the point of that? He's perfectly whole on his own, thank you very much.  
  
...Looking at it makes his chest ache. Stupid fucking thing.  
He'll be perfectly fine, then find himself running his thumb over the ink, examining the uncertain line, and this deep ache fills his chest for no good reason. It's this lingering sense of loss, something missing.  _Half a heart.  
_ But he's not missing anything, obviously. He has himself. That's all he's ever had and all he needs. He shoves the nausea down, waits for the feeling to pass. It's not worth hanging onto baseless pain. It was just the concept, he thinks, the idea of being half a heart. It's a silly thing to let get to him, so he doesn't.  
..He doesn't, he swears, he tells himself that he doesn't.  
  
When the Tres Horny Boys join the Bureau, the bracer covers the blemish. He's glad. The damn thing had been fucking up his emotions. He's sick of looking at it, sick of how it makes him feel.   
So there, now it's covered.  
He stares at the spot for a while, covered with the Bureau's bracer, tattoo out of sight.  
_Wrong, wrong, wrong._  
The pain was supposed to disappear with the tattoo, but there it is, a deep hole in his chest.   
  
Stupid meaningless tattoo.


	2. the twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it was stupid, but not to them.

"Ow, fuck!"  
  
Taako winced and instinctively tried to pull his hand back a bit, moving from the source of the pain, but a grip on his arm held him in place.  "Don't move, ya baby, you'll mess me up and then act like it was  _my_ fault."  
  
Taako huffed, forcing himself to relax. "Well, excuse me, it hurts."  
  
"Of course it's gonna hurt, doofus, I'm kinda stabbing you. But don't  _move._ " Lup rolled her eyes and continued sticking Taako's arm carefully with their little stick n poke rig. "If you don't want to do this, I can stop now, it'd basically just be a small mark at this point."  
  
Absolutely not. Taako knew if he said he wanted to back out, Lup would stop immediately, but this wasn't even a real tattoo anywhere painful, just a tiny stick n poke. She'd stop, sure, whether or not he'd ever live it down is a completely different story.  
So they continued, Lup carefully sticking the little half-love heart into his wrist, comfortable silence around them. When his was finished, he'd return the favor, tattooing the heart on the inside of his twin's right wrist so they had matching halves.   
  
The idea had been Lup's, a little celebration before the mission on the Starblaster. Taako had agreed. The sentimental part of him said it was fitting. They were twins, after all, Lup was Taako's heart, as he was hers. They'd been inseparable for as long as they'd been alive, best friends and partners in crime. When no one else gave a shit about them, they had each other. If you asked them about the tattoos, they'd claim it was for the aesthetic, but they were symbolic of everything the twins had been through together and the bond they shared. Two halves of the same heart.   
  
The tattoos turned out.. Okay. They weren't exactly pretty, neither of them was an expert in tattooing, but they'd agreed without question that they'd do it themselves. And besides, regardless of what they'd tell others, the meaning behind the ink was so much more important than the appearance. So what if they were a little light, a little lopsided? They were perfect, to them.  
Taako ran a thumb over the new ink and grinned. When he looked up, his heart was grinning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is what happens when i try to write interactions, you can see now why i don't do that much.
> 
> edit: how are there kudos on this already i'm not even done posting it yall weren't supposed to know this exists yet...................................thank u i love u but where did u come from


	3. lup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a silly thing to focus on.

Taako remembers. Lup is back. Memories clear up uncomfortably.  
Regret rushes over Taako like a wave. How could he forget  _Lup?_ How could he forget his  _family?  
_ It feels like betrayal, but the feeling is overtaken quickly by excitement and adoration at the sight of his sister, in her lich form though she may be. She's back, Lup's back, and it's been so long..

* * *

  
Lup's back. She's back and she's blazing, figuratively and literally. She's free and she's.... well, alive isn't the right word but she  _feels_ alive, she feels powerful. There's no time to soak it in, she's got a family to protect.  
The Day of Story and Song keeps them on their toes, as the end of a world tends to do, they know from experience. This isn't the end, though, not for this world, not in their hands. They've been through too much already, they can fight this, think through this. They can win.   
And, as announced by little Angus McDonald, shaken but relieved, they won. 

When they're no longer evading Armageddon, the twins spend most of their free time together, catching up, making up for the lost time.   
Lup's oddly aware of the bracer covering her brother's tattoo. It's a strange thing to notice and an even stranger thing to focus on, but she can't help it.   
They're twins, but you wouldn't be able to tell anymore. Taako looks different, a bit run down, his heart concealed, and Lup... Lup is a lich. The whole 'lacking a body' issue is being worked on, but at the moment, she's miles away from looking like her brother, and her brother doesn't look like her anymore regardless. He still has the same goofy grin. Lup counts her blessings.  
  
The night her new body is ready, she finds herself sitting cross-legged across from her brother once more as he sticks the symbol into her wrist.  
  
They aren't quite identical anymore, even when Lup has a new body. It's easier to tell the difference between them. Taako's hair has lost some of its volume, his eyes lost a touch of their light, his features just a little softer around the edges, while Lup is renewed, still sharp beauty and fire. The tattoos are a comfort, though Taako's isn't visible under the bracer. ("It's kind of a permanent fixture," Taako had explained, "They don't have clasps or anything, it's just part of the ensemble now.")  
  
It's not visible, but it doesn't need to be. It's there, unseen but ever present. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dabs I wasn't sure how to make the thing I was trying to get at in that last phrase stand out I hope it reads,,,,  
> I need to write more so when I do write I'm not so out of practice lmao  
> Thank u for reading I hope this doesn't suck the most ass

**Author's Note:**

> my weird introspective writing with no actual plot returns!  
> thank you to jude for bouncing this idea with me. you rock, kid.


End file.
